Town Column

Chilmark

Last year our blueberry crop barely filled one scant cup, while our well-fed wildlife flew by, laughing. This year, with a record catbird population in residence, we have protected the blueberries with a fortress-like arrangement of chicken wire and tobacco netting and hope to be able to share some of the bonanza.

The community center is offering its usual array of activities for people of all ages as well as for the whole family. Lydia Fischer has organized an introduction to Island pond life - there's much more there than you imagine - for children age six and up. Equipped with nets and buckets, explorers will discover endless creatures and learn about their particular ecosystems. Start the one-hour excursion at the center tomorrow, Friday, July 27, at 10:30 am.

For follow-up reading on the same subject, Shirley W. Mayhew's "Seasons of a Vineyard Pond" is an excellent choice. The small, readable volume is packed with fascinating details about life in the Mayhew family's pond. The book, which is the January 2008 choice for the Sustainable Book Club, is available at all the Island bookstores and at the Alley's Store in West Tisbury.

Next Monday, July 30, is teenager's night at the center when talent will be showcased with an open mike from 6:30 to 10 pm.

If you've run out of beach reads, the library has come to the rescue. The Friends of the Library have assembled a collection of used books at bargain basement prices: One dollar for hard covers; 25 cents for paperbacks. Check it out.

For the younger, and for that matter, the elder set, that old stalwart, Winnie the Pooh, will be on hand to greet admirers at the library's program at the community center next Monday, July 30, from 11 to 11:30 am. No honey available, alas.

Roving photographer Julie Jaffe invites everyone to an opening reception for her exhibition of photographs, "What If?," at the Chilmark branch of the Bank of Martha's Vineyard from 5 to 7 pm tomorrow, July 27. She has shown frequently at the bank and also at the library, and always comes up with an original theme.

Betty White has come down from Toronto to show her unusual and moving art works on paper at the library until noon on Friday, August 10. Everyone is invited to an opening reception next Sunday, July 29, from 4 to 6 pm.

The walking women will meet next Thursday, August 2, at 9:30 am to walk the Middle Road Sanctuary, which is off Middle Road near Meetinghouse Road. Walkers are encouraged to get a copy of Will Flender's "Walking Trails of Martha's Vineyard," a handy portable reference book which gives the history of the trails and also directions. Bring water and insect repellent. For more information, please call Julie Coleman at 508-645-2261 or Judy Maynes at 508-645-3460.

To open your eyes to what nature is doing in your own backyard, come to the lecture by naturalist and environmentalist Suzan Bellincampi at the library next Wednesday August 1 at 5:30 pm. Ms. Bellincampi is director of the Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary and former education director of The Trustees Of Reservations. The talk is sponsored by the Friends of the Library and is free and open to all.